Tag Archives: elem

Maine Arts Camp Information Session

If you are looking for a great overnight summer camp for your creative 9-16 year-old, please come to an information session and find out what makes Maine Arts Camp so special.

Located on the campus of Colby College, MAC is a small, friendly camp community where children and teens feel comfortable expressing their creativity, pursuing their passions and exploring new skills with support and highly personalized attention from our team of exceptional and experienced professionals. New campers can and do start at any age, be it 9 or 10, 15 or 16 years old and everything in between. MAC provides professional instruction in the visual arts, theater, culinary arts, music, photography/videography and dance, as well as individual sports such as tennis, kayaking, hiking and biking. Add in the first class facilities at Colby College, along with traditional favorites like songs and smores around the camp fire, etc., and this is a place where creative campers can meet like-minded individuals, make life-long friendships and grow in extraordinary ways that help them lead happy, meaningful and productive lives.

Visit www.maineartscamp.com to find out more. If you would like to attend Saturday’s information meeting, please RSVP to camp director Rick Mades, at maineartscamprick@gmail.com.

March 30th, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
The Boathouse at The Farm Condominiums, 99 Florence St, Chestnut Hill. From Florence St, enter The Farm. Turn right after entering the community. Turn left after the tennis court. Turn left into the parking lot for the boathouse behind the pond).

Project Manna Concert’s 30th anniversary

Come celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Project Manna Concert. This spring marks the 30th anniversary of a sacred partnership between two communities of faith, Temple Emanuel of Newton and the Mass Avenue Baptist Church of Cambridge. For 30 years they’ve been doing Project Manna concerts together, which raise funds that support the food pantry and soup kitchen at the church.

Project Manna is a double blessing, helping feed the hungry, and in an age of division, black and white, Christian and Jew, church and synagogue, coming together in love. They are the sum of their commitments that they renew and deepen. Renew and deepen your commitment to decency, to repair, to building bridges. Renew and deepen your commitment to sacred song that inspires sacred deed.

All proceeds support the church’s Project Manna hot meals program and food pantry to benefit the homeless and hungry. Tickets are $20.00 for adults and $15.00 for students and seniors, and can be purchased online.

https://www.templeemanuel.com/event/project-manna-concert/

April 2nd,  7:00 pm
Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward Street,  Newton

Choirs participating:

Massachusetts Avenue Baptist Church
Massachusetts Avenue Children’s Choir
Timothy Baptist Church
Boston Children’s Chorus
Shir Shalom, Temple Shalom
Temple Beth El Center – Belmont
Kol Emanuel, Temple Emanuel
Zamira
Guys in Ties
Polkadots
Kol Keff
Paamonim

You’ve Got a Friend: A Celebration of the Music of James Taylor”

The Newton Family Singers present “You’ve Got a Friend: A Celebration of the Music of James Taylor”.

Tickets for the next Newton Family Singers show celebrating the music of James Taylor are on sale now at http://newtonfamilysingers.seatyourself.biz/.  James Taylor is an iconic American singer-songwriter whose prolific repertoire contains familiar hits and unexpected gems. Sing along as they bring new life to the songs you know and love, and let them share some amazing songs you may have never heard before.

April 7th, 4:00 pm
Newman Elementary School, 1155 Central Ave, Needham

April break = Stories! Movement! Art!

Want something to do during April school vacation? Stories! Movement! Art! will provide students in grades 3-6 the opportunity to tell stories through their art! By using low-tech materials, they’ll create art that physically moves or uses optical illusion to showcase movement!

The program will take place inside the Carriage House at Gore Place in Waltham (the large building next to the parking lot). This program is $20.00 for the whole week, or $5.00/day. Tickets: https://art-workshop.bpt.me

April 15th – April 19th, 1:00 – 3:30 pm

April Vacation Public Speaking Workshop

Public Speaking and Critical Thinking Skills For Your Child!

Lumos is offering 2-day Public Speaking workshops during April break. Your child will love Lumos’s friendly instructors and fun activities as they learn about:

  • Speaking Confidence
  • Impromptu Speaking
  • Debate Fundamentals
  • Argumentation and Reasoning

Right now you can use the code COMMUNITY to get $20.00 off. To register, go to lumosdebate.com/vaca-workshop. Email info@lumosdebate.com or call 781-474-3359 with any questions.

April 15th-16th, April 17th-18th, or April 19th-20th

April Vacation Public Speaking Workshop

Public Speaking and Critical Thinking Skills For Your Child!

Lumos is offering 2-day Public Speaking workshops during April break. Your child will love Lumos’s friendly instructors and fun activities as they learn about:

  • Speaking Confidence
  • Impromptu Speaking
  • Debate Fundamentals
  • Argumentation and Reasoning

Right now you can use the code COMMUNITY to get $20.00 off. To register, go to lumosdebate.com/vaca-workshop. Email info@lumosdebate.com or call 781-474-3359 with any questions.

April 15th-16th, April 17th-18th, or April 19th-20th

Literacy Specialist/ELL Teacher Available for Private Summer Tutoring

Newton mom and former Newton literacy specialist, presently working as an ELL teacher in Needham Public Schools is available for Summer tutoring. Lani Verges-Radack, the parent of two kids with complex learning and emotional needs,  has over 15 years experience in education.

With experience in a variety of methods, she can assess your child to design the best plan for progress. Lani works on ALL areas of literacy – decoding, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, writing, oral language and phonics/spelling – depending upon the needs of your child.

State certified in ESL, Reading, Early Childhood, English. Experienced with all ages. Rates available upon request. Please contact Lradack@gmail.com.

Letter from School Committee regarding Equity Policy and Guidelines Information


Dear Elementary School Families:

Recently, several questions and concerns have been raised about the revised equity policy and guidelines scheduled for implementation in July 2019. The School Committee would like to clarify the purpose of the policy and guidelines, review the process by which the revised policy was determined, and identify the opportunities for public feedback in the coming weeks.

Equity is a core value of the Newton Public Schools. The School Committee is steadfast in our commitment to elementary students receiving a similar educational experience no matter which school they attend and despite any demographic differences among our school communities. In 1988 when it became clear that a large and increasing disparity in PTO fundraising and provisioning of schools threatened the level playing field, the School Committee instituted equity guidelines and limitations. These are reviewed and updated every few years by an Equity Committee composed of parents, a school committee member, an elementary principal, the director of information technology and the assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. The guidelines define three different categories of PTO spending: unlimited, limited and prohibited. This does mean that there continue to be areas of PTO spending that are not capped at all and where PTOs may spend unlimited amounts of money. Expenditures are tracked by PTOs and reported to the Equity Committee annually.

In spring 2018, after an in-depth analysis of PTO spending for the past three years, the Equity Committee recommended changes to the Equity Policy and Guidelines that were passed unanimously by the School Committee in June 2018. The Committee also recommended investigating the possibility of a central fund where donations could be gathered from various sources and distributed to schools to even out funding in key categories. The School Committee’s approval of the new Equity Guidelines reflects our ongoing commitment to close persistent disparities in PTOs’ ability to fund enrichment opportunities that directly impact students’ educational experience.

Implementation of these new guidelines was intentionally delayed until July of 2019 so that people could understand and respond to the new spending limits established. Members of the Equity Committee and several School Committee members have provided several opportunities for all parents to provide feedback, including focus groups and education sessions, as well as informational meetings at individual elementary schools requesting them (8 to date with 2 more scheduled).

On March 25th, the Equity Committee will update the School Committee on the guidelines and as a result, there may be adjustments. On April 24th, there will be a similar update on the proposed central fund. Additionally, the Equity Committee is working on an “FAQ” or Frequently Asked Questions that will provide more in-depth information.

We encourage anyone who is interested to attend the School Committee Meetings in Room 210 at the Education Center. You are welcome to make public comment at the beginning of the meeting. You may also view the meetings at home on NewTV. At any time, feel free to reach out to any of us via email or phone. Contact information can be found on our website: www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Newton School Committee